What are some of the best ways to take care of your vehicle’s exterior? There is loads of advice on how to keep the mechanical and interior parts of your going as long as possible, but very little on the exterior body. Here are some basic tips on prolonging the life of your vehicle’s exterior:
Garage your vehicle, if possible
It’s not always possible to garage a vehicle, we get it. But even a covered carport style situation is going to do a lot to shield your vehicle from the elements and prolong the life if your car’s exterior. Sunshine, rain, hail, wind, and various other things – including other people – can damage your vehicle. A garage prevents all of that.
Get an annual detail inside and out
A proper cleaning and detailing of both the interior and exterior of your vehicle, on a regular schedule, can go a long way to protecting various surfaces. Get into the habit of detailing your vehicle around another big event in your event life: a birthday of yours or a child, perhaps, to help you remember.
Check for damage while filling up for gas
Some damage to vehicle exteriors can worsen over time if you don’t catch it and deal with it. Get in the habit of making a quick walk around you vehical when filling up with gas. Look for any new dents or scratches that you may not have noticed before. While dents are unsightly, a new scratch that is deep enough could start to rust over time.
Restore your headlights
For older vehicles this could be a big problem. Over time your headlights cloud. Some vehicles have this problem worse than others. Cloudy headlights can be a hazard and create dangerous conditions or make dangerous driving conditions even worse. Restoring your headlights can help avoid accidents and costly repairs, while giving your vehicle a nice little aesthetic boost to boot.
Repair rust spots
Whenever you see them, repair them. Do not let them grow and become a bigger problem – this is particularly true for people who live near oceans with air that has higher salt content.
These are some basic car maintenance things youcan do to prolong the life of your car. You know the importance changing the oil, rotate the tires, so on and so forth. But it’s also important to pay attention to the exterior to be sure the vehicle retains as much resale value as possible, and it stays in as good of a condition as possible.
If too much damage has been done, reach out to the expert paint technicians at Downtown Autobody, serving Rohnert Park and surrounding areas.
